Long Time Expat In Japan
My first short story is going to be published! "Volunteered" -- in which a volunteer lawman transports a murderer to the spaceport on a backwater planet. To get off planet, he will have to run the gauntlet-- has been accepted by Lawless Lands, a short story anthology from Fallstaff Publishing. It is one of twenty … Continue reading Lawless Lands
If you want to be a beta-reader, please send me an email or leave me a comment and I’ll share the rest of the story. — Margot was a spritely one hundred twenty five, or so she thought until she cupped her hands under her protruding belly, trying to hold up the weight that felt … Continue reading Story Excerpt – Clarity
I'm reading a memoir I didn't expect I'd be reading. I've decided my filters need some cleaning, so I have decided to go outside my comfort zone. Partly for research, partly for the discomfort. So I'm reading Fierce Attachments, A Memoire, by Vivian Gornick. I also just added two thousand words to my novel that … Continue reading On Art and Hard Work
I was away on a business trip for two weeks in November. OK, I was away for one week on business. The other week was all about gaming with friends. Nearly 16 hours of board gaming, everyday, for 5 days, only interrupted by breakfast at I-HoP or the local diner. Compound that with an early … Continue reading November Shodo
My mind is easily occupied. Porous borders just allowed twelve hours of TV on an international flight to invade and occupy the CPU cycles. I don't feel guilty, just a little angry. I've allowed it. I've let the occupiers through the gates. It might be time again for a screen boycott. I deleted a bunch … Continue reading Mind Occupiers
Tried it once. Only got about 30k words. This inspired me to write shorter bits. In the last year, I joined the Tokyo Writers Workshop, a great bunch of people who have been kind enough (and appropriately not so kind when necessary) to critique my short stories. I've written and work-shopped a half dozen since … Continue reading NaNoWriMo
This last weekend I joined the Japan Writers Conference at Tokushima University. An annual event, about a hundred educators, journalists, poets, writers, and hangers-on like myself gather at a host university and spend two days giving and participating in presentations, panels, workshops, and readings. It all started on Friday night with a dinner party at … Continue reading Japan Writers Conference
Film: Grüße aus Fukushima (Greetings from Fukushima, aka Fukushima, Mon Amour) Director: Dorris Dorrie Starring: Kaori Momoi, Rosalie Tomass Note: Some Spoilers I mentioned in an earlier post that last year I worked on a German Film set in Japan. It was released in a film festival in Germany back in February to pretty good … Continue reading German Film Review
Kana seems like my strong suit, 4th kyu. But I'm stagnating these days, not seeing any progress. I'm sure I know what it is. I just practice once a week. And I only do kana one of the weeks in the month. Time to make a decision, double down or maybe more. Not just this … Continue reading September Shodo
So what does summertime fun have to do with floating melons and submerged plums, you might be wondering. Well, I'm glad you asked. Another four character idiom for shodo this month. See the bit of kanji below (yes, my brush was a little too soaked with ink, but it was the best of the bunch): … Continue reading End of Summer Fun
B.S. Donovan 